Prophecy

Prophecy

I’ve talked about the gift of prophecy many times through my blogs, mentioning here and there the journey I’ve been on regarding it.

Going from idolizing it, seeking it constantly, and wanting to predict the future, to understanding it’s intent is to uplift the church, and being more hesitant to listen for it.

Examples of me experiencing prophecy range from:

Saying something to someone at the exact time they need to hear it, whether I’m aware of what they’re going through or not…

To buying a bible for a friend on a whim feeling like it was “hers,” only to have her tell me “That’s the exact verse I would’ve wanted, that’s my life verse I couldn’t remember when you asked”…

To having someone ask me to prophesy for them on a whim and the Lord coming back with Deuteronomy 13, which basically warns against idolizing prophets and listening to lies if they want you to follow other gods [which is not what I was doing but made me laugh so hard that that’s what the Lord gave me for that person. I took it as, “Hey friend, come to Me not her if you want to hear what I have to say.”]…

To praying for someone about something specific, and not long after, they text me about that very thing, not knowing I had been praying…

To receiving visions of things the Lord wants to teach me, but knows I’ll understand Him better if He gives the lesson to me in pictures…

To having a sense of what was going to happen in the future…

I’ve only had a sense of what might happen in the future three times. The first two times were incredibly detailed accounts of what would come to pass:

The Lord impressed on me the summer before my senior year in college, that I would be single for the next 25 months, not be in my home town for a year, would be doing ministry but not just one type of ministry, and wouldn’t be in one location.

A few months later I found out about something called the World Race. An 11 month long missions trip where you travel to 11 countries, doing all types of ministry, and if you are single at the time you are accepted, are required to stay single until you return. I came back from this adventure 25 months after the Lord impressed those things on me.

While I was on the World Race I had a feeling that a friend of mine was going to start dating this girl while I was away [who at the time, was dating someone else], they’d date for a year, everyone including me would think they were going to get married, and then he’d break up with her.

All this came to pass within the next two years.

The most recent time was not detailed, but was rather a warning from the Lord to be alert and start preparing for something specific that was going to happen. Something that might hurt me if I wasn’t expecting it. So He warned me, that I might be prepared.

God’s word says in John 13, 14, and 16:

“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.”

In these contexts, Jesus is referring to the betrayal of Judas, the coming persecution of His followers, and of His death and resurrection. He was warning them of what was coming, so that when those things came to pass, they would know ahead of time, not be surprised, and could not claim the knowledge of these things as their own.

It reminds me of all the times in the Old Testament God warns His people of what will happen, and they rebel.

I truly believe that the Lord still speaks to us in these ways today. He has spoken what will come to pass to me three times, and because He did, I cannot take credit for knowing ahead of time. In the midst of it, I cannot deny the Lord’s presence leading these thoughts.

For my first example, the World Race was such a specific answer to prayers I hadn’t even prayed yet. But because the Lord told me what would be, I couldn’t claim credit when I stumbled upon the World Race’s blog site and realized this was what the Lord had been preparing me for. I couldn’t take credit, so I gave Him all the glory.

The second example… honestly I still couldn’t tell you why I knew that was going to happen. Maybe it was just a reminder from the Lord that I could still hear His voice at that time. But He still told me and thus, I still give Him the glory.

The third example… the sting was gentler because I knew it was coming. I wasn’t blindsided, and was able to practice praising the Lord in a time of hurt, because He is good and faithful and merciful. He could’ve withheld His warnings that led me to preparation for the past three weeks when the warnings began. He could’ve allowed me to be blindsided and let me deal with it on my own.

But I think because I was listening for Him, He spoke. And He whispered. And He warned. And He prepared me for this. And because of that, I have to praise Him. Because He is loving, and He is a protector. And He has not left me alone.

Praying over my Jericho prayers is when I first heard the warning three weeks ago. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The Lord already knows where He’s taking us when we pray circles over things. And He knows they might not turn out how we expect. But through the process of praying over those things, our confidence and faith in Him grows. So no matter the outcome, we can know, He was in control the whole time.